Toy gun with stretchable diaphragm

ABSTRACT

A toy gun having an elongated tube with a balloon secured over the rear end of the tube and a handle secured adjacent the front end of the tube so that when the handle is held in one hand the balloon may be grasped by the other hand to be stretched and then released to propel a projectile deposited in a balloon. The handle has finger grooves therein to minimize the gripping force necessary to hold the handle.

United States Patent Inventors Reynolds W. Guyer, Jr.

Mendota Heights; Wilbert A. Kruse, St. Louis Park, Minn. Appl. No. 779,946 Filed Nov. 29, 1968 Patented May 25, 1971 Assignee said Krause assignor to said Guyer d/b/a Winsor Concepts Minneapolis, Minn.

TOY GUN WITH STRETCHABLE DIAPHRAGM 7 Claims, 3 Drawing Figs.

US. Cl 124/21, 124/30 Int. Cl F41b 7/08 Field of Search 124/21, 30, 22,16,1, 41, 17, 20

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 8/1960 Miotke 124/20UX 3,057,338 10/1962 lwamoto 124/22 13125.- 163.738 6/1951 Beggs 124/20x 1315s.- 179,093 10/1956 Pratt 12412234 2,757,658 8/1956 Harris 124/17 Primary Examiner--Richard C. Pinkham Assistant ExaminerWilliam R. Browne Attorneys-Frederick E. Lange, John J. Held, Jr. and Eugene L. Johnson ABSTRACT: A toy gun having an elongated tube with a balloon secured over the rear end of the tube and a handle secured adjacent the front end of the tube so that when the handle is held in one hand the balloon may be grasped by the other hand to be stretched and then released to propel a projectile deposited in a balloon. The handle has finger grooves therein to minimize the gripping force necessary to hold the handle.

TOY GUN WITH S'I'RETCIIABLE DIAPHRAGM BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Various arrangements have been proposed for using an elastic member to' propel an object forward at high velocity. Many of these devices have employed elastic diaphragms which have been operated in various ways to impart a force to a projectile engaged by the diaphragm. The difiiculty has been that many of these devices have been unduly complicated and difficult to aim properly. This has made these devices less desirable as toys since the ability to accurately direct the projectile with a relatively simple device adds substantially to the enjoyment in using the devices.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is concerned with a gun in which a closed elastic member is secured to the rear end of a tube and in which there is a handle member secured adjacent the front end of the tube for holding the gun in a manner to accurately direct the projectile.

By having the tube relatively elongated and mounting the handle near the front of the tube, the hand holding the tube is sufficiently spaced from the hand grasping the elastic diaphragm that it is possible to have the hands aligned with the tube so as to minimize any tendency of the gun to be deflected when the elastic diaphragm is released.

A further feature of the present invention is that the handle has finger grooves therein which are shaped to conform with the position of the fingers when in holding position. The han dle is wedged between the fingers while the handle is being held so that the handle is securely held without the application of gripping force thereto and with the fingers relaxed even during the shooting operation. This minimizes the reaction of the muscles that tends to occur where one hand pushes or grips while the other hand pulls and then releases. When the muscles of the gripping hand continue to react after the counterpull is discontinued, the gripping hand turns to the side to deflect the gun. By eliminating the gripping force, the muscle reaction is eliminated.

A further feature of the present invention is that the diaphragm takes the form of a conventional toy balloon which is applied in a simple manner to the tube and which can be readily replaced if it is damaged in use.

A further feature of the invention is in the manner of attaching the balloon to the tube, this involving the use of an exterior collar on the tube and rolling back the open edge of the balloon after the balloon has been slipped over the tube to contract the same about the tube and cause it to engage the forward edge of the collar. This method of attaching the balloon makes it easy to assemble in manufacture and enables ready replacement of the balloon by the user.

Other objects and features of this invention will be apparent from a consideration of the accompanying specification, claims and drawing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a perspective view of our gun with the hands of the user being shown in dotted lines;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary view on a slightly smaller scale than FIG. 1 showing the side of the handle of the gun opposite to that shown in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is a detailed view partly in section showing the manner in which the balloon is attached to the gun.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to FIG. 1, the tube of the gun is designated by the reference numeral I0. This tube is initially open at both ends. An elastic diaphragm in the form of a conventional balloon II is attached to the rear end of the tube. A handle member 12 is attached near the forward end of the tube. The upper end of the handle member 12 is provided with a curved saddle portion 13 which is shown as partially surrounding the tube but which may completely surround the same and is rigidly secured to the tube in any suitable manner as by being cemented thereto. The handle 12 is symmetrical about a vertical center plane extending through the axis of the tube 10 and is provided with a downwardly extending hand engaged portion having a plurality of grooves l4, l5, 16, 17, 18 and 19 for reception of the fingers of the hand. As will be noted from FIGS. 1 and 2, grooves 14 and I7, which are disposed on opposite sides of the handle immediately beneath the tube 10, are relatively elongated to provide for the forefinger and thumb to rest on the lower edges of these grooves with both the forefinger and thumb in extended position. The grooves 15, I6, 18 and 19 are relatively short to accommodate the knuckles of the second and third fingers when they are bent in the illustrated manner to allow the back edge of the handle grooves to anchor against them. The lower portion of the handle 12 is provided with a flange 21 on which the little finger can rest while in relatively extended position. As will be apparent from the drawing, the longitudinal axis of the hand engaged portion extends laterally away from the tube 10 at such an angle that when engaged by the fingers of a hand in the manner described, the associated arm extends generally parallel to the tube 10.

It will be noted from the location of the grooves 14-19 and the flange 21 that the fingers of the hand are accurately positioned and supported while the handle is lodged between the forefinger, thumb and little finger in extended position, while the second and third finger are drawn into the palm. The importance of the forefinger being in extended position is that this is the index finger and this finger when in extended position instinctively and naturally aims thus aiding the user in aiming naturally even without sighting. By reason of the various grooves I4l9, the handle may be firmly held with the application of no gripping force to it. In firing, no gripping force is required since the force of the pulling hand holds the handle firmly against the knuckles of the second and third fingers. As pointed out above, this minimizes any tendency of a gripping hand to react after the diaphragm 11 is released. If the handle is of such construction that it must be gripped firmly, the gripping hand tends to react after the hand pulling the balloon lI ceases to exert a pulling force. This tends to cause the gripping hand to turn sidewise to deflect the gun. This tendency is avoided with our construction.

The diaphragm I I, as previously pointed out, takes the form of a conventional balloon. The normally open end of this balloon is placed over the rear end of the tube 10 which is provided with a collar 24 adjacent the rear end thereof. The collar 24 may be fastened to the tube 10 in any suitable manner. Where the tube 10 is molded, the collar may be integral with the tube. The forward end of the balloon II is rolled back until it engages the collar 24, as indicated at 25. By rolling the balloon in this manner, the effective unstretched diameter of the balloon is reduced causing it to grip the tube 10 more firmly and to prevent the forward end from passing over the collar 24. As pointed out previously, this manner of securing the balloon not only provides for ready assembly of the balloon on the tube during manufacture but also makes it possible for the user to readily replace the balloon when necessary.

In use, a projectile, preferably spherical, is introduced into the tube through the forward end 26. The projectile is allowed to roll back into the balloon 11, the projectile being shown in FIG. 3 and designated by the reference numeral 27. The projectile is preferably of relatively soft material to minimize the danger of damage to objects engaged by the projectile. The outer end of the balloon 11 is grasped between the thumb and forefinger, as shown in FIG. I, and this outer end is then stretched backwardly to place tension on the balloon 11. Upon release of the balloon 11, the missile 27 is propelled forwardly at high speed, passing through the tube 11 towards the target. It is to be understood that the thickness of the wall of the tube 10 and of the collar 24 has been exaggerated for purposes of illustration and that normally the tube 11 and the collar 24 will be relatively thin so as to minimize any tendency of the projectile 27 to engage the end of tube or collar 24 prior to entering the tube 10, If desired, the interior of the tube and collar assembly may taper outwardly adjacent the rear end so that the interior diameter at the rear end is equal to the exterior diameter of collar 24. This provides a funnel action to guide the projectile into the tube 10.

It will be noted from FIG. 1 that due to the handle 12 being adjacent the front end of the tube 10, with the axis of its hand engaged portion extending laterally away from the tube and due to the tube being of a length substantially greater than the length of a hand, it is possible to have the hand gripping the balloon 11 and the hand holding the handle 12 to be substantially aligned with the longitudinal axis of the tube 10 and to have the forearm associated with the hand holding the handle 12 to be fully extended so as to tend to be parallel with the tube 10. If the handle is at the rear or if the tube 10 is too short, the two hands, one gripping the balloon and the other holding the handle must be laterally displaced in order not to interfere with each other and the forearm associated with the hand gripping the handle extends at an angle to the tube 11. Under these conditions, when the balloon 11 is released, there is a tendency for the forward end of the tube to move forwardly and downwardly upon release of the balloon, thus causing a slight deflection of the tube 26 and thus interfering with accuracy of the gun. By having the handle and the elastic member 11 sufficiently spaced, it is possible to minimize this tendency due to the hands and the forearm gripping the handle' being aligned with the tube 10.

CONCLUSION lt will be seen that we have provided a novel gun of the type employing a stretchable elastic member for propelling a missile in which the structure is extremely simple and in which it is possible to accurately direct a missile being fired.

While we have shown a specific embodiment of our invention for purposes of illustration, it is to be understood that the scope of the invention is limited solely by the appended claims.

We claim:

1. A gun comprising an elongated tube having two open ends through the front of which a generally spherical projectile is inserted and subsequently ejected, said front open end being free of any restriction limiting the effective opening therethrough to less than the cross-sectional area of the tube, a bag-shaped resilientdiaphragm member having its open end stretched over and secured to the rear open end of said tube, said diaphragm member being stretchable by exerting a pull on its outer end in a direction away from said tube so that upon said diaphragm being subsequently released, a sudden force is applied to a projectile within said tube to cause the same to be rapidly ejected from said tube, said bag-shaped resilient diaphragm member when not stretched away from said tube having a minimum internal diameter over most of its forward length which is substantially as large as the internal diameter of said tube so that a spherical projectile having an outer diameter close to that of the interior diameter of said tube, when inserted into the open end of said tube during loading of the gun, can pass through the interior of said bag-shaped diaphragm member to the rear outer end thereof and be grasped when the rear end of said diaphragm member is grasped, said diaphragm member having an overall length which is relatively small as compared with that of said tube so that said tube accurately guides such a projectile having an outer diameter close to that of the interior of the tube as the projectile passes through said tube after leaving said diaphragm member upon the latter being stretched and then released, and a handle secured to said tube and having a hand engaged portion, the axis of which extends laterally away from said tube to enable said tube to be held by one hand while the associated arm extends generally parallel to the tube and while said diaphragm is bein stretched and released by the other hand 0 the user, said andle being located substantially forwardly of the end of the tube to which said diaphragm is attached so that the hand holding the handle is substantially spaced from the hand stretching the diaphragm to minimize the tendency of the tube to be deflected upon release of the diaphragm.

2, The gun of claim 1 in which said handle is formed with finger grooves of various depths shaped and directed so as to conform individually with the adjacent portions of the fingers of a hand when in holding position so as to enable the handle to be held steadily without the application of gripping force thereto.

3. The gun of claim 2 in which said handle is symmetrically formed with identical finger grooves on opposite sides thereof to enable the handle to be grasped by either the right or left hand.

4. The gun of claim 2 in which the groove for receiving the forefinger is relatively long as compared with the other finger grooves to enable the forefinger to be in pointing position and still be supported by the lower edge of the groove.

5. The gun of claim 2 in which there are oppositely disposed grooves in the upper portion of the handle immediately beneath said tube which grooves are relatively long as compared with the other grooves, for reception of the thumb and forefinger on opposite sides of the handle with both in extended position.

6. The gun of claim 2 in which two of said grooves are relatively short and face the end of the tube on which the diaphragm is mounted and are shaped to be engaged by the knuckles of the second and third finger and in which a third groove is relatively long so as to conform with the forefinger when extended.

7. The gun of claim 1 in which the rear end of the tube has an exterior collar and in which the diaphragm is a conventional rubber balloon having its normally open end disposed over the collar and rolled rearwardly to firmly engage the forward wall of said collar. 

1. A gun comprising an elongated tube having two open ends through the front of which a generally spherical projectile is inserted and subsequently ejected, said front open end being free of any restriction limiting the effective opening therethrough to less than the cross-sectional area of the tube, a bag-shaped resilient diaphragm member having its open end stretched over and secured to the rear open end of said tube, said diaphragm member being stretchable by exerting a pull on its outer end in a direction away from said tube so that upon said diaphragm being subsequently relEased, a sudden force is applied to a projectile within said tube to cause the same to be rapidly ejected from said tube, said bag-shaped resilient diaphragm member when not stretched away from said tube having a minimum internal diameter over most of its forward length which is substantially as large as the internal diameter of said tube so that a spherical projectile having an outer diameter close to that of the interior diameter of said tube, when inserted into the open end of said tube during loading of the gun, can pass through the interior of said bag-shaped diaphragm member to the rear outer end thereof and be grasped when the rear end of said diaphragm member is grasped, said diaphragm member having an overall length which is relatively small as compared with that of said tube so that said tube accurately guides such a projectile having an outer diameter close to that of the interior of the tube as the projectile passes through said tube after leaving said diaphragm member upon the latter being stretched and then released, and a handle secured to said tube and having a hand engaged portion, the axis of which extends laterally away from said tube to enable said tube to be held by one hand while the associated arm extends generally parallel to the tube and while said diaphragm is being stretched and released by the other hand of the user, said handle being located substantially forwardly of the end of the tube to which said diaphragm is attached so that the hand holding the handle is substantially spaced from the hand stretching the diaphragm to minimize the tendency of the tube to be deflected upon release of the diaphragm.
 2. The gun of claim 1 in which said handle is formed with finger grooves of various depths shaped and directed so as to conform individually with the adjacent portions of the fingers of a hand when in holding position so as to enable the handle to be held steadily without the application of gripping force thereto.
 3. The gun of claim 2 in which said handle is symmetrically formed with identical finger grooves on opposite sides thereof to enable the handle to be grasped by either the right or left hand.
 4. The gun of claim 2 in which the groove for receiving the forefinger is relatively long as compared with the other finger grooves to enable the forefinger to be in pointing position and still be supported by the lower edge of the groove.
 5. The gun of claim 2 in which there are oppositely disposed grooves in the upper portion of the handle immediately beneath said tube which grooves are relatively long as compared with the other grooves, for reception of the thumb and forefinger on opposite sides of the handle with both in extended position.
 6. The gun of claim 2 in which two of said grooves are relatively short and face the end of the tube on which the diaphragm is mounted and are shaped to be engaged by the knuckles of the second and third finger and in which a third groove is relatively long so as to conform with the forefinger when extended.
 7. The gun of claim 1 in which the rear end of the tube has an exterior collar and in which the diaphragm is a conventional rubber balloon having its normally open end disposed over the collar and rolled rearwardly to firmly engage the forward wall of said collar. 